Cork Sports Performance Centre

A big congratulations to Lucy May Sleeman (Leevale AC) on her performances at the European Athletics U20 Championships in Israel.

Lucy progressed through the 100m heats, to the 100m semifinals (running a 100m personal best) & into the European U20 100m final. (Earlier that same morning she competed in the 200m sprint heats).

I have been Lucy’s strength & conditioning coach & her track coach for several years. Prior to that John Naughton (Leevale AC) coached Lucy through her critical developmental years in sprints & hurdles.

Last weekend Lucy landed at University of Texas at Austin where she joins the Texas Longhorns women’s track & field team on a full athletic scholarship.

This is an amazing achievement & opportunity for any athlete - I want to wish Lucy continued & greater successes in the future. She has been a pleasure to coach & I will miss her.

Congratulations to Lucy-May Sleeman (19yrs) (Leevale AC) on her Silver medal wins in the women’s 100m sprint at the Irish National Seniors Championships on Sunday. A great achievement for a developing athlete.

Lucy (left), winner Sarah Lavin (centre), Mollie OReilly (right).

Lucys competitive season culminates in the European U20 Championships, in Israel next week. She will compete in both the 100m & 200m events.

Wishing Lucy & all the U20 Irish athletes the very best of luck!!!

Lucy (18yrs), developing sprinter/hurdler. Isometric split squat.
Maximum effort against immovable frame. 5 second efforts. Emphasis on rapid explosive effort (rise time).

The difference between isometric & dynamic contractions lies in the nervous system.
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Isometrics (ISO) for Speed (Explosive Athletes).

Types.
1. Overcoming - pushing against an immovable weight or object.
2. Yielding - take a load/weight & hold - the goal is not to move.
3. Max Effort (explosive) - rapid generation of max effort against an immovable. Sometimes described as ballistic - could be 1 -3 seconds. Good for speed / strength.
4. Max duration - holding/pushing/pulling as long as possible.
5. Static Dynamic - supersets of ISOs & dynamic exercises. E.g. 6 second hold, ISO trap-bar deadlift followed by explosive trapbar jumps. No rest period between exercises
6. Extreme ISOs - pull into extreme joint angle ranges & hold for long periods.
7. Oscillating- tense the muscle groups responsible for concentric movement then release as fast as possible & attempt to “bounce” out of the bottom of the movement.
Hybrids,
1. ISO switch - advanced - a dynamic “switch” from an ISO hold on one leg, to the other leg.
2. ISO catch - very advanced- athlete needs a high level of experience.

Recommendations for explosive athletes

Include regularly (rather than a focused ISO block).

5-10 seconds- (e.g. 6sec X 5 sets or 3 s*x X 10 or 10sec X 3sets).

Intensity - very high effort.

ISO Positions - address critical sports specific positions (&/or sticking points).

Training variables - less than 10 min total time, 4-6 reps per joint angle, 10 seconds rests between contractions, relax between contractions, stretch muscle & light massage between reps.

Short & long muscle lengths - address both.

Congratulations to Lucy Sleeman (Leevale AC), who moved to the top of the European Athletics rankings this weekend (female U20), with a new 60m personal best time of 7.35.

More racing in the coming weeks.

Interference Effect (IE)

The first study to identify the IE was back in 1980. Since then, it has been examined frequently with particular interest in strength adaptations, hypertrophy and power/explosive adaptations.

What is the IE?

Research shows that when performing cardio training during periods of strength training, cardio training reduces the strength & size adaptations (compared with strength training alone - without cardio happening).

The type of endurance activity can influence the magnitude of the IE with running causing the greatest negative effect on strength development.

The greater the volume & intensity of the cardio training the greater the IE.

(Interestingly, strength training can enhance endurance performance when strength & endurance are are performed during the same periods).

What causes the IE?

This is complex & remains unclear.

Current research position on IE?

The most recent meta-analysis examining the IE confirms that it is measurable & present.

A notable & important finding is that power & explosive strength are more significantly negatively impacted.

Does it matter?

The majority of the strength training population need not be concerned about including some cardio training, on the contrary, this should be regarded as a healthy lifestyle mix.

Performance athletes on the other hand, in particular those who have significant goals related to explosive strength &/or power e.g. sprinting, jumping, throwing - must consider the negative impact that endurance training will likely with progress.

Team sport athletes must be mindful that intensive conditioning sessions have the potential to reduce explosiveness & agility.

If the athlete/player goal is maximum speed, development, maximum power output & improved explosive qualities, then consider the IE & limit endurance training as much as feasible.

Competitive Powerlifters - although the IE appears to be relatively small (dose dependant), it is still negative.

Powerlifters wishing to include cardio for physiological (& mental) benefits - consider completing cardio sessions after your strength session not before, don’t complete large volumes of cardio & reduce it when you want to peak strength, consider separating endurance & weight training sessions by 24 hours.

Competitive Bodybuilding - no logical reason to include aerobic exercise - nutrition should be the priority if reductions in body-fat percentages are required.

J.

(LMS)

Acceleration & planes of movement.

In acceleration there is pelvic rotation, pelvic list, rear hip flexion, hip adduction & hip internal rotation, all of which cause the swing leg to move medially in front of the body.

Here is a developing athlete (16yrs) accelerating from starting blocks (the same swing keg movement pattern should be observable in field athletes) - note the swing leg (the leg swinging forward) moves medically (towards the athletes centre line) - although this may appear to be an awkward movement, it is correct & desirable, it is not detrimental to performance.

As her leg inwardly rotates, her foot rotates outward.

As her foot returns to the ground, she’s landing on the inside edge of the foot. All correct.

The final image shows the first 4 steps of the 100m world record just to illustrate how the fastest human accelerates.

World U20 Athletics Championships - Cali, Columbia.

Lucy Sleeman progressed from yesterdays 100m heats to today’s women’s 100m semifinal.

Lucy’s first outing on a world stage & still under 20 next year. Best of luck today Lucy!!!

Silver in the 200m final at Masters World Championships.
My Achilles are hanging off me, time for a 🍔.

Semifinal completed.

Onto the World Final now.

200m heats this morning at World Masters, Finland.

Won my heat to proceed to Semi-final tomorrow.